A judge has jailed two men for eight years each for their part in a drug smuggling plot involving a parcel from Afghanistan.
Leeds Crown Court heard the parcel, purporting to contain children’s clothes and handbags worth a total of 50 US dollars, was intercepted on August 9, 2013.
Geraldine Kelly, prosecuting, told the court on Wednesday when it was opened at the Coventry parcel hub it did contain both clothing and bags - but also 1.94kg of heroin.
That would be worth £97,000 if sold in normal street deals, she said.
Police repackaged the parcel and an undercover officer was sent to deliver it to the designated address on the package in Moorcroft Drive, Dewsbury Moor.
He was unsuccessful on the first attempt but left a card that he had called.
Arrangements were subsequently made for it to be delivered on August 15 and on that occasion both Arfan Hussain and Akmal Afzal were present.
Miss Kelly said Afzal answered the door and claimed to be Manzoor Hussain to whom the parcel was addressed.
After the delivery the pair then travelled in Afzal’s taxi to an address at Pilgrim Crescent, Dewsbury, where the package was left before they were arrested.
She told the court the prosecution accepted from telephone contact that a third man known as Zahoor was also involved in the conspiracy but he had not been traced.
Jonathan Turner representing Afzal said he had been induced by an older man to play the role he had for a small amount of money. It was an isolated incident. He knew drugs were involved but not the extent of the importation and more sophisticated individuals were controlling what happened.
He had faced considerable delay in the case reaching court and had kept out of trouble since.
Amjad Hussain, representing Arfan Hussain, said he was of previous good character, adding: “This incident can only be described as stupidity on his part.”
The address to which the drugs had been moved was the home of Afzal’s brother and was not linked to him.
He too had spent a considerable time on bail and had kept out of trouble for the past four years.
Afzal, 26, of Church Lane, Dewsbury Moor, and Hussain, 31, of West Street, Dewsbury, each admitted conspiracy to evade importation restrictions.
Jailing them, Judge Mushtaq Khokhar said whether the name used on the parcel was fictitious or not the drugs were destined for “Zahoor” and both of them knew what they were doing.
“Courts are particularly concerned about the spread of Class A drugs in the community.”
He said those who became addicted often ended up funding their habit by committing crime.
